hey all,

how long do you wait when airbrushing Tamiya acryilics between coats of different colours?

I'm not kin on throughly cleaning my airbrush so I'd prefer to shoot as many of the coats as I can in one session without ruining the undried coats.

i know the paint kinda drys fast.
but u must clean your air brush after u use it.
because the tamyia paint drys fast in the air brush,
and you are just asking for trouble if u dont celan the airbrush.

i tryed to air brush tamyia paint its a pain in the butt.
it was drying before it went on the model,
and it had bumps and stuff.
try air brushing with VALLEJO Paints
they are the best for airburshing

Thanks Tazz,
I'm pretty much stuck with tamiya, no one carries Vallejo around here and the only other stuff I could find is Humbrol and Gunze.
I prefer Tamiya to these two because I can thin it with disstiled water or window cleaners.

Hey Elad,

If you are using more than one color in a sitting, in between colors you can shoot some straight water or windsheild washer fluid through the AB to get some of the other color paint out. Hook up the second color and away you go.

Tamiya does dry pretty fast, have never had it dry as fast as tazz has said it does, I guess it depends on temperature and humidity where he is.

Also depends on what you thin it with....with water, it won't dry as fast as it will with alcohol or windsheild washer fluid, however I find with water it doesn't work as well, (have never used distilled water mind you), I usually use a mixture of the 2, either water and alcohol, or water and windshield washer fluid.

Works well for me, I don't think the paint actually dries completly for about 24hrs, but is usually dry to the touch in about 5 to 10 mins, depending on temperature and humidity.

Tamiya paints dry fast especially when brushing. I'm not as sure about airbrushing but I imagine its just as quick drying if not quicker as its a thin coat. It should be noted that there is a big difference between when a coat of paint is dry and when it is cured. For it to dry, Tamiya paints are dry usually no longer than five minutes. For it to be cured, wait at least overnight. I'm a lot more impatient and the fact that it may not be totally dry or even cured can be a good thing if you want a slight blend. But otherwise patience is the way to go.

i just brushed some tamiya yesterday (was my first time) and i had the experience of it drying very fast, maybe it was just me but geez, i know i'm not airbrushing with that stuff.....anyone who doesnt have fast drying tamiya paint, whats your secret haha

Really its just a matter of working fast and not screwing up. I would even slightly dilute it in water, to allow it keep it from drying as quickly.

I use a flow aid at times when air brushing with Tamiya, slows the drying down a little bit. I like the fact that is dries fast, helps me to get on to the next color. As for the roughness, I thin my Tamiya at about 60% paint to 40% windex, and spray very light coats.
Regards,
Robert

Does windex also help keep the brush clean when spraying?


I use alot of Tamiya and it always clogs up my airbrush. Also if you touch the model at any time after the paint is so frail. even after days



Want to start using more MM Enamels, any yay's or nay's?

They are almost dry right when they hit your model.. I would wait 1 hour and 2nd coat.

windex eh?





jeremy- yay, i love using model master enamels, its my favorite paint, so far with all my armor kits i've only had to use 2 coats on each with model masters, they are a little bit pricy, but i think its worth it, i'd say, try it and see how you like it, from my experience they've got a pretty good variety of colors, their acrylic paints arent too bad either. good luck!

I personally have never had a problem of Tamiya paints drying in the AB or on the way to the model.

Yeah they do dry pretty fast, but not so that its a problem, and they always seem to give me a pretty smooth coat.

No MM Acylics on the other hand.....you can keep them, I have a few bottles I have tried, and in either my Badger 200 or Aztek 4709....I might get 5 mins of spray time out of them before it clogs up the AB because it drys so fast. Which really is a shame considering all the great colors they have.

Yep, been doing it that way for about 4 years, tried alot of other things but I like the wetting agent in windex the best.
Regards,
Robert

The regular ole blue windsheild washer fluid you use in your car works the same was as windex....other than I believe that windex would be quite a bit stronger.

The only thing I haven't had a problem using Windshield washer fluid with is the MM Acrylics.....but then I haven't really gotten anything to work with them much...I may have to try a little windex......lol


I am assuming you are using the everyday garden variety blue windex, and not some of the other ones like the flower smelling ones....lol... :-)

I've learned a couple of things when airbrushing Tamiya acrylics: First off, the stuff should be really, really well mixed. I'm not talking about just shaking the bottle for a couple of minutes. You really need to stir it mechanically for a good minute or two (I use a piece of T-shaped sprue in a dremel). If you don't, I find that the pigment may not be sufficiently broken down. My suspicion is that insufficiently broken down pigment is one of the reasons why the paint will sometimes clog the tip. This suspicion was confirmed for me one day when I was attempting to do some fairly tight spraying, and I noticed that I was getting severe clogging after only a couple of minutes of spraying. I then realized that I had taken some shortcuts on the prepping of the paint. I started over after thoroughly mixing the paint, and was then able to spray with no clogging or tip drying of any sort. Secondly, I recommend biting the bullet and ponying up for their thinner. If you buy it in one of their larger sizes, it really isn't that cost prohibitive. Sure, it's a lot more expensive than alcohol or windsheild washer fluid, but when you add it all up you are really talking a few cents per airbrushing session. I've not stumbled on a substitute, or even a combination of substitutes (word has it that Tamiya thinner is composed of mostly alcohol, about 15% water and a very small amount of glycerin), that gives me the same consistent, hassle-free results of their thinner. I know others swear by their own cheaper concoctions, so take my opinion as you will. I suppose I'm lazier than I am frugal.

I agree with jpzr. I have tried distilled water, tap water and alcohol (not Windex though) and finally caved in and bought the Tamiya thinner. It works a lot better than anything else I have tried.